A Third Secret
by Pochama-chan
Summary: Another victim of the Apotoxin has joined Conan and Haibara! At the same time, a man wearing all black clothes has been sighted as the murderer, the count is now up to two! See how Conan works to try to capture the murderer... Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**A Third Secret Chapter 1**

**By Pochama-chan**

"_Game over…"_

"Kuso…" muttered Conan, "when will I ever beat this?" He had been practicing Pac-man for the good portion of three hours, and still had not managed to beat the game past the second time. Suddenly, his earring cell phone began to beep. "Hello?" Conan spoke, and was greeted by a nervous and excited voice of Dr. Agasa. "Shinichi-kun? You've _got_ to come right now, something happened!" "What…?" Conan began, but the professor had already hung up. _Better go and see…_ Conan thought, and after telling Ran hastily that he was going to Dr. Agasa's place, he sped towards Agasa's house on his turbo-powered skateboard.

Dr. Agasa greeted him at the door, still looking excited, and led him into the living room where Haibara Ai sat, though with a small girl Conan did not recognize. She had black shoulder-length hair, kind of like Ayumi's but a little longer. Her black eyes shone with happiness as she chatted with Haibara, who, Conan was very astonished to see, was smiling as she talked. He knew something must be going on, since Haibara wouldn't smile genuinely like that just to entertain a kid. He stood gaping at them, and after a while the girls noticed his presence. The new girl's eyes immediately flashed with something like fear, and stopped talking at once, glancing at Conan mistrustfully.

"Dr. Agasa, this is…" inquired Conan, looking at the girl he had never seen before. "This is Horikawa Kumoko-kun, she is also a victim of the APTX 4869," replied Dr. Agasa. "WHAT??" yelled Conan, in utter disbelief, "The Organization's still got more Apotoxin to use?" "I suppose so," said Haibara with a hint of worry in her voice, "When I finished making the Apotoxin, Gin took about a dozen from me, and I think he might have kept them despite the Organization burning everything else about the drug." And Conan remembered how, before he had been knocked out, he had seen Gin pull out a small black box with several pills in it. "Uh…well…Kumoko-chan…how old are you?" asked Conan uncertainly. The girl didn't reply. Haibara leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and her expression seemed to relax a bit.

"I'm eleven now, but I'll be turning twelve next month," she replied, looking cautiously at him. "Eleven," repeated Conan thoughtfully, "but doesn't one pill shrink you about 10 years?" He looked down at Kumoko, who resembled a six or seven-year-old. "Yeah, but when Gin forced me to eat the pill, I struggled, bit it open, and managed to spit out about half of it. I don't think he noticed anything, because he was busy setting our house on fire…" her voice trailed away, and she looked suddenly very sad. Haibara took her hand and patted it lightly. "Oh…" Conan said, slightly embarrassed that he had made the girl sad. _Ran, Haibara, and now this kid. Why do I always seem to depress the girls? _"Um…Kumoko-chan, will you be going to school with us?" he asked, changing the subject. "Yes, we are planning to enroll her as Shirai Chihiro, since, like you two, using her original name will make her traceable to the Black Organization."

"Shirai Chihiro…" Conan pondered the name, "It's not related to any famous detective, is it?" Both "Edogawa Conan" and "Haibara Ai" had been made up of either famous detectives or writers that wrote about detectives. "No…Shirai is the surname of one of my friends and Chihiro is the name of my little sister," she said with her eyes downcast again. "Your little sister?" asked Conan, but regretted it immediately when Kumoko replied, in a small voice, "She didn't survive when Gin gave her the drug…She was only five, and she had not been able to take the shock the pill created. Or else I guess she was shrunken 10 years and is now five years before birth…" "Oh…I'm sorry to hear that," said Conan. "It's fine," said Kumoko, "It's not your fault she's dead. Gin and Vodka are the ones who worked to kill us all." _Kuso…_Conan thought, _the Organization has torn apart so many families…_

Suddenly, the phone rang again. This time, it was Ran. "You didn't tell me how long you were going to be gone, Conan-kun! Do you want me to make dinner for you?" "Uh…okay Ran-neechan, I'm coming back home now!" Conan said in his innocent, cute little-boy's voice. "Okay then, come back quickly!" the girl said, and then hung up. "Alright guys, I have to go now, see you two at school tomorrow!" he called hastily as he ran out the door.

The moment he was gone, Haibara turned to look at the younger girl. "Well, what do you think, is he the type of person you can trust?" she asked with a small smile on her face. "I don't know…" replied Kumoko, "He doesn't seem all that reliable at first glance…How old is he?" "He's seventeen," said Haibara, "And you won't think he's not reliable after you've seen his detective skills." "He's a detective?" asked Kumoko. "Yes, and he's so good, he's called the Sherlock Holmes of Heisei," replied Dr. Agasa, coming back from the bathroom, "What do you guys want for dinner?"

"Class, quiet down, we have a new student today!" the Sensei said to the group of first graders fidgeting around before the start of class. At once the noise died down and everyone looked up in anticipation, but especially the members of the Shonen Tanteidan. They, especially Ayumi, were reputed for welcoming new students. As the Sensei led (who she and the rest of the class thought was) Chihiro to the front of the class, the class let out several squeals of "she's so cute!" and "I'd like to be her friend!" The Sensei wrote her name, "Shirai Chihiro", on the board, and asked, "Chihiro-chan, where would you like to sit?" "Sensei, she can sit next to me!" piped up Ayumi. Actually, there was only one empty seat in the room, and that was next to hers. "Okay," replied Chihiro, since the empty seat was not only next to Ayumi, but also next to Haibara, who was sitting with Conan. She walked down the isle to the seat and sat down, while returning Ayumi's beaming with a friendly smile. "Alright class, settle down, and we'll start the math class."

"Chihiro-chan, my name is Yoshida Ayumi," the small girl next to her happily announced as the bell rang and the Sensei dismissed them, "this is Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, and that over there is Kojima Genta!" "Hello," Chihiro smiled at Mitsuhiko, who blushed. "Chihiro-chan, how do you like this school?" Ayumi asked. "Well…I like it okay, I guess," replied Chihiro, "It's a nice environment to study in." "Which school did you go to before this?" asked Genta, joining them with a rice ball in his hand. Chihiro glanced at Haibara nervously, since she didn't want to tell them where she _really _had been before here. Haibara answered in the calm voice of hers, leaving her younger and more innocent classmates in no doubt that she was telling the truth, "Shirai-san's been in America for four years, and came to Japan after a brief stay in China." It was, after all, partially the truth. Chihiro, as Kumoko, has indeed stayed in the United States the first more-than-half portion of her life, moved to China, and has come to Japan about a year ago. _If only the Black Organization had let Otousan stay in China or the U.S., _Chihiro thought to herself miserably, _then Gin and Vodka will never have been able to track us down… _

"Chihiro-chan, what happened?" Chihiro came out of her reverie looking at Ayumi's worried face. "What? Uh…nothing," she answered, avoiding Ayumi's gaze. She regretted using her sister's name as her alias. Having the name repeatedly called at her did nothing better to stem the flow of sadness that seemed to run through her every time she thought about her sister, her family, and of the horrors the Black Organization had brought to her family. "We heard from Conan that you're living with Haibara-san at Dr. Agasa's house," Mitsuhiko said, and directed his next question more at Haibara, "can we all go to your house together? The professor says that he's close to finishing a new game, and that we can all go play." "Okay, if the professor said you could," replied Haibara indifferently. "Yay! Let's go!" exclaimed Ayumi cheerfully. As they walked out of the school yard, Conan looked back instinctively, just in time to catch the glimpse of a black figure behind the bushes. He ran towards the bushes, but all he saw on the other side was a mass of parents and students walking out of the gate. "What is it, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko asked. "Ah…nothing," Conan replied as he ran back to join them. _It was only a teacher or a parent, _he thought, shrugging, but an uneasy feeling had begun to creep up his mind…

**What relationship does Kumoko's family have with the Black Organization? And who was the black figure Conan saw? To be continued…**

Note: This is my very first fan-fic! It's not much, but I'll add to it soon and it'll probably be really, really long. Please read it and review, I'd really appreciate tips on how to make my writing better! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**A Third Secret Chapter 2**

**By Pochama-chan**

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho Sensei. I'm only writing this fan-fic based upon the story line that he created.

_She was running hard, down a dark, dirty alley. She was running so hard that it took her a while to notice that she was holding someone's hand. "Shiho-neechan," she said, gazing into the other girl's face. Suddenly, Shiho was pulled backwards by a large hand, and out of the shadow stepped Gin, Vodka following not far behind. _

_The alleyway transformed, twisting into the image of a larger room, although it was just as dark as the alley they had just been in. As her eyes began to grow accustomed to the darkness, she saw that her family had been tied to poles with thick, black ropes. "I must thank you, Kumoko-chan, for helping us find our runaway, Sherry…" Gin's voice rang out terribly in the dark, echoing room. She was frozen with fear. Part of her wanted to scream, close her eyes and run, but she stayed rooted, quiet, unblinking as she watched Gin tie the eight-year-old form of Miyano Shiho on a pole similar to the ones that bound her mother, father, and little sister. "Now, you shall watch as I kill them, one by one…You shall watch…" Gin said, his face twisting into a horrible sneer. He raised his gun, pointing it at Chihiro…_

"Kumoko-chan, wake up, Kumoko-chan!" Haibara shook the young girl tossing and turning beside her. "No…Chihiro…" moaned Kumoko before opening her eyes. "Kumoko-chan," Haibara whispered comfortingly, as Kumoko's eyes filled with tears and she fell into Haibara's arms, sobbing quietly so as not to wake Dr. Agasa, who was sleeping soundly. As Haibara held Kumoko, trying to comfort her, she suddenly remembered memories of a few years ago, swimming in her head.

_"Take care of her," Gin, then in his early twenties, thrust the small girl at the 12 year old Miyano Shiho. Kumoko staggered and ran behind Shiho, eyes widened in fear of the tall blond man. "All right, I will," replied Shiho, half glancing at the six-year-old hiding behind her. "Goodbye, Kumoko-chan," Gin jeered as he turned to leave. The moment he was gone, Shiho turned towards the girl. "You're name is Kumoko, right?" she asked, her tone cool. Kumoko nodded. Now that she had finally escaped the terror of Gin, she began to worry whether Shiho will be a friend or foe. _

"_I heard that you're parents are in China, is that correct?" Shiho asked before turning away from Kumoko, towards her computer, on which she had been working on a project before being interrupted by Gin. "Yeah…" Kumoko answered. "Well, it's getting late, so you should get to bed. That one's yours," Shiho pointed to the bed beside the window. "Okay, Shiho-neechan. You're in college already, right?" Kumoko asked, staring up at Shiho, who flinched slightly upon hearing the word "neechan". Hearing herself addressed as neechan reminded her of her own big sister, who she didn't get to see very often. "Yes, I'm in college now. What grade are you going to be in?" she asked Kumoko, now settling herself into bed. "Sixth," she answered, "so I'll be in eleventh grade when I'm twelve years old." "Well, that's still pretty advanced," Shiho decided to say something kind. "Thanks, Shiho-neechan," Kumoko smiled and closed her eyes._

_Shiho had been working on her project an hour or so when she noticed that Kumoko was whimpering in her sleep. She looked around, and saw that tears were flowing down the small girl's face. She walked to the bed and shook Kumoko awake. "What's the matter?" she asked. "I want to go home…" Kumoko murmured, "I miss my family…my mom and dad…Chihiro-chan…" something stirred in Shiho's mind. She remembered how hard it had been when she was first separated from her sister. She couldn't sleep or eat, and she used to have nightmares too. "It's okay…Kumoko-chan…" she hugged the little girl. And they sat there, two children forced away from the family they loved, sat there for a long, long time…_

Haibara was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice when Kumoko had fallen asleep in her arms. She laid her down on her pillow, and saw that her expression had calmed down a bit. Haibara smiled and lay down next to her, falling back asleep…

"Hello, Haibara-san, Chihiro-chan!" Ayumi cried cheerfully as the two pseudo-children entered the classroom. Chihiro smiled and said hi, but Haibara, cool as ever, walked over to her seat after a mere glance at Ayumi. "Oh! Chihiro-chan," Ayumi looked at Chihiro, eyes shining, "Do you want to join our Shonen Tanteidan?" "Shonen Tanteidan," Chihiro inquired, "What do you guys do as a detective club?" "We solve cases," replied Ayumi happily, "We've even helped Megure Keibu and the Keiji-sans solve cases!" Chihiro looked over to Haibara, who nodded, confirming this information. "Okay then, I'll join!" Chihiro said, and Ayumi looked overjoyed as she ran to tell the other Detective Boys of Chihiro's admittance into the club.

"6x530…6x636…6x7………I don't know, Sensei…" Genta looked guilty as the Sensei surveyed him disapprovingly and the other students tried their best to become invisible for fear of being called on next. "Let's see…Shirai-san, why don't you finish the rest of the sixes for Kojima-kun here," the Sensei said. Chihiro stood up, and said in a light, easygoing tone, "6x742, 6x848, and 6x954." The whole class, except Conan and Haibara, stared at her admiringly as she sat down. "Good, Shirai-san. Now, Tsuburaya-kun, would you do the sevens for me?"

"You're pretty good at math too, aren't you? Just like Conan-kun and Haibara-san," said Ayumi as the recess bell rang. "Um…I guess…" Chihiro replied uncertainly, not knowing whether Ayumi was praising her or being slightly jealous. Ayumi was about to reply, when suddenly a gun shot and a yell echoed in the air. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards the window, but the six members of the Shonen Tanteidan had already run outside, led by Conan. "Let's split up, the sound wasn't far from here!" suggested Mitsuhiko, and the kids scattered before Conan could stop them. "No!" he called after them, "The criminal's got a gun! It's dangerous…" "Guess there's just no way to stop them…" Haibara commented coolly as the kids quickly ran out of sight. "This isn't funny! What if they ran straight into the criminal?" Conan replied hotly. "We'll just have to make sure we catch the criminal before they do, right?" Chihiro asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Then she followed Haibara as she ran off to the back playground of the school.

"BANG!"

The sound of a gun directly right to them made Haibara and Chihiro freeze in their tracks. They could hear the sound of a person groaning, and another's heaving breath. And then without any warning, a man dressed all in black walked out of the bushes and came face to face with the two of them. "What do we have here…Two young children striding out of the classroom alone, huh? Well, you can get going, and don't worry about the gun shot. I'll take care of the bad guy that was shooting," he said. "We don't believe you," Chihiro said fiercely, ignoring the violent pulsing of her heart and the fact that she was shaking very badly, "How do we know you're not the bad guy?" The man grinned in a way that would have fooled a child like Ayumi, but certainly not the two "children" standing in front of him. "You two just go back to your classroom, and after I've caught the bad guy, I'll bring him to show you. How about that?" "And what are you going to do once our back is turned? Run immediately, or kill the two of us first?" Haibara retorted. The man's grin turned into a grimace of anger. "You leave me with no choice…" he said, pulling out a gun, "I guess disposing of you will not delay me any time…" He aimed the weapon at Haibara's chest.

In the space of less than one second before he pulled the trigger, Chihiro seemed to be pulled back into the dream she had last night. She saw Gin, with his mouth curved into a sneer as the man here was, pointing the gun at the girl beside her, her only equivalent to a family member after she had been left back in America to further her studies…And she acted. Just when the man in black pulled the trigger, she launched herself at Haibara, knocking her out of the way. The bullet smashed right into Chihiro's wrist, and for a moment she felt nothing, as if the whole world had faded away. Then as she hit the ground, she heard Haibara's scream and a world of pain seemed to press into her, and she felt consciousness fleeing her body.

**Kumoko is now severely injured! Will help arrive in time? Will Conan be able to catch the criminal? To be continued…**

Note: Thanks to all the people who read my story, especially to **Miyano Ran**, **Magor**,** Kudo1412**, and** Da Cookie Thief **who reviewed, sent me a message, or added my story to their favorite list! I'll try my best in the future to come up with better stories, so please give me lots of advice! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**A Third Secret Chapter 3**

**By Pochama-chan**

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho Sensei. I'm only writing this fan-fic based upon the story line that he created.

She heard people whispering. A boy's voice whispered something, and a more mature, female one whispered something back. Then she also heard someone snoring softly. She tried to open her eyes, but the moment the muscles of her eyes tried to work, a roaring headache started in her head. _Where am I? Why does my head hurt so much? _She remembered part of the things that happened before she passed out. A man in black had pointed his gun at Haibara, and she had pushed her out of the way…Since thinking about this wasn't helping her headache, she decided she would go back to sleep, and just as she was about to drift off…

"BANG!" "Genta-kun!" "Sorry!" "Shh..."

A series of voices sounded near her, and she wanted to know what happened. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, ignoring the headache. She saw that she was lying on a bed in a hospital room, and Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and a bigger girl that she didn't know were gathered around Genta who was sprawled on the floor. She looked around and saw Haibara and Conan sitting next to her bed, both of whom had noticed that she was awake. She opened her mouth, but didn't get the chance to speak, for at that moment the other people had noticed her awakening and had clustered around.

"How does your arm feel, Chihiro-chan?" asked the big girl. Chihiro looked up at the girl. She had brown hair, big eyes, and a tender expression, kind of like a mother's. She didn't speak, but looked at Haibara inquiringly. Haibara seemed to know what she was thinking. "This is Ran Mouri, daughter of Mouri Kogorou. Conan lives at their place." She said. "Yup, and Conan's just like a little brother to me!" she said fondly, patting Conan on the head, "So, Chihiro-chan, how's your arm?" "My…arm?" Chihiro replied faintly, "My arm's fine, I guess…" In truth, she had not noticed her arm until Ran had asked her about it. She felt a large lump of bandages under the blanket, and her arm didn't exactly seem to have much feeling, like it had been under pressure for a long time and is now turning numb.

"Ran-neechan, remember that the doctor said to tell him if Chihiro-chan woke up!" Ayumi reminded her. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Ran pressed the buzzer near the bed, and a minute later a doctor came in. "Hello, Shirai Chihiro. My name is Yokomichi Kojirou, and I will be your doctor for as long as you are in the hospital," he said with a friendly grin, "Now how is your arm?" "It's fine; it doesn't hurt at all. In fact, I don't feel anything in my arm," Chihiro replied. "Yes, that's because the bullet that was shot at your wrist paralyzed your whole left arm completely," the doctor replied, "We are doing all we can to fix that, and we are confident that in a couple of days' time you'll have your arm back. Now, Mouri-san, did any adult guardian accompany you here?" he asked Ran. "No, my father's at his friend's house playing mahjong and Chihiro-chan's guardian, Agasa-san, is away on a business trip. He's not coming back until next week, but I'll try to call my dad and see if he can come." "Okay then," the doctor said, "I'll be here if you press the buzzer, if you need me. Don't leave the bed yet, I don't think your arm has recovered enough," he added to Chihiro as he left the room. "You know, Ran-san that Mouri-ojisan is probably going to get drunk at his friend's house and go home late," Mitsuhiko scrutinized wisely, "and then he won't pick up the phone." "You are probably right, Mitsuhiko-kun," Ran sighed. "Chihiro, you can go back to sleep if you want to," Genta said, "And sorry for waking you up." "That's okay, Genta-kun," Chihiro said, "You didn't wake me up. I was already awake when you fell down." "That's good," Genta grinned.

After what seemed like a couple of hours of sleep, Chihiro awoke again to Genta's voice, "Ran-neechan, can I go get something to eat?" "Yeah, me too, I'm kind of hungry," Ayumi said. "But you can't go out on your own, and we can't leave Chihiro-chan here alone…"Ran said indecisively. Haibara spoke up, "Shirai-san is asleep now. Conan and I can stay and take care of her. You four can go and get something to eat." "Are you sure, Ai-chan?" Ran asked, and Haibara nodded. "Alright then," Ran agreed, "But you can't leave this room, okay? I'll go get some food and try to call my dad." "Okay, Ran-neechan, let's go!" Genta said, cheered at the idea of food.

The moment the kids had left with Ran, Kumoko sat up. "Have you caught the criminal yet?" she asked the two people next to her bed. Conan shook his head, "Not yet. After you fell, Haibara called us over. The Sensei had already called the police, but when Megure Keibu and Takagi Keiji came, the criminal had already gone. I tried to chase him, but he fired a smokescreen bullet at us, and in the confusion he was gone." "Is…is the man…the victim…is he okay?" Kumoko asked. Conan grimaced, "No…he's dead." They sat there in silence for a while, before Kumoko spoke again, "What was his name?" "Hajime Otaki, 38 years old, he works as a lawyer. The police think that the criminal might have been one of his clients, because they found an envelope in his drawer containing this message." He took out a sheet of paper, which Haibara and Kumoko saw had a line of writing on it:

"**I see that you have lost the case. Before I go, I shall claim yet more lives…"**

"I copied this down when Megure Keibu wasn't looking. The original was made of cut-out letters from the newspaper," Conan said. "Yet more lives…" Haibara said, "This means he'll kill more than one person…" "Yes," Conan said, "That's what I think, and-" He was about to finish his sentence when Ran charged in, the kids right behind her. Kumoko, not wanting to be fussed over, lay down and pretended to be asleep. "Look at this!" she whispered, since Kumoko appeared to be asleep. The other two pseudo-children looked at the newspaper Ran handed to Conan.

_**Murder! Woman found dead in her apartment. Crime scene shows clear signs of struggling. Victim believed to have been strangled to death by a dog leash. Witnesses state that criminal wears all black clothes, and has black hair and black eyes. **_

"What?!" exclaimed Conan, while Haibara looked shocked, "What if that's the person who attacked Chihiro-chan?" "And it's not just that either, the victim lived right down the street from us! We've even seen her a few times, walking her dog, right Conan-kun?" Ran said. "Yeah…I think so…" Conan said, looking thoughtful. He remembered seeing her sometimes, strolling along with her small white Scottish terrier. "I remember, she told me her name once…I think it was Waseda Imako-san," Ran said, "Anyway, it's horrible, isn't it? And even if you're right and it's the same suspect, what have Hajime-san and Waseda-san got in common?" "I don't know…" Conan frowned. _Wait! What if this criminal has something to do with the Black Organization?_ He suddenly thought. When Ran wasn't paying attention, he whispered softly to Haibara, "What if these murders were all executed by the Black Organization?"

"Well," Haibara whispered back, glancing at Ran to make sure she had her back turned, "It's possible, but I don't think so, because…" she lowered her voice more as Ran started walking around, frustrated because her dad was not answering the phone, "Before he attacked us, I saw a…a tattoo on his right arm. I couldn't see what it said, but the letters were in red and black. And I don't think the Black Organization allows tattoos, especially not if you're a member with an alcohol for a name." "A tattoo, huh?" Conan asked, loud enough so that Ran heard him. "What's the matter, Conan-kun? What about a tattoo?" she asked. "Uh…um…nothing much! It's just that Haibara asked whether I like toy tattoos, and I was about to answer her."

"Oh, okay," Ran said, looking slightly confused. _Conan-kun sure is a strange boy, _she thought, _he could be poring over a murder case one moment, and then he thinks about something totally unrelated and childish the next. _She looked at Haibara, who was whispering intently to Conan. _She never talks like that to the other kids. It's always like they're forcing her to join in an activity. But when she and Conan are together, she can talk freely…_

"Still, we haven't got many clues, have we?" asked Haibara, keeping her voice lower still so that Ran doesn't hear, "It's going to be a tough case for the Sherlock Holmes of Heisei, isn't it?" "Well, the show's just started, right?" Conan answered, eyes gleaming, "I'll solve the case before you know it. Want to bet?" "Not exactly," Haibara said with a slight smile, "I wouldn't want to pressure you, but you should start your investigation soon." "I know," Conan replied.

**Conan's investigation is about to begin! See who he will go talk to for information…**

Note: Chapter 3 is finished! I guess the ending was a bit weak, and I also apologize for the confusion between Kumoko/Chihiro, but it is a bit late (the exact time I'm writing right now: 9:34 p.m.) and I'm really tired. Well, I guess the first couple of chapters are the easiest, and then it gets hard! Also, the new school semester is coming up, so there will be more and more homework, and especially since our school is really enthusiastic in assigning projects… Sigh Anyway, hope everyone likes the way the story is going, I might need some others to help with the continual of the story. Thanks, **Da Cookie Thief**, for your kind support, and thanks to all the other people who came to look at my story! Please review a lot because I want to finish Chapter 4 quickly! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**A Third Secret Chapter 4**

**By Pochama-chan**

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho Sensei. I'm only writing this fan-fic based upon the story line that he created.

**(Evening, in the hospital)**

"Hello? Mouri Detective Agency" replied a drunk voice from the other side of the line. "Dad! Finally you went home! I'd been trying to contact you for 7 hours!" Ran shouted through the telephone, "There's been a murder, somebody's been killed!!" "WHAT?!" Mouri Kogorou shouted, "A murder? Where are you?" "We're at the Beika Hospital right now, Chihiro-chan's hurt," replied Ran. "Chihiro? Who's that?" Kogorou asked. "She's a friend of Conan's. Just hurry up and come here, I'll explain the details later!" Ran said before hanging up.

"So, Occhan's coming?" Conan asked. "Yeah. The only way to get him out of a drunken stupor is the word 'murder'," Ran sighed, then looked over at Chihiro's sleeping figure, "I hope Chihiro-chan's going to be all right. I'm glad that we got her into the hospital in time…She had been losing lots of blood on the ambulance." Conan looked at the asleep Chihiro too, thinking about what happened…

_A girl screamed, somewhere to his right. His heart skipped a beat. It sounded like Haibara's voice. He didn't want anything to happen to her. No, he thought, I don't want anything to happen to _anyone_. He broke into a run. As he reached the place where the two girls were, he felt a mixture of horror and panic run through him as he saw Haibara holding on to an unconscious Kumoko. But he didn't have time to worry about her. The murderer's black hair was already disappearing through the bushes, and Conan set off at a dash. But he knew it was too late. The criminal's adult legs were so much longer than his that he would lose him in a matter of seconds. _I'll use one of my tracking devices, _he thought, _I can still aim at him from here…

_But just as he thought that, the criminal turned, smirked at Conan, and fired a smokescreen bullet at the ground. Dark gray smoke immediately clouded Conan's field of vision, and after the smoke cleared and he stopped coughing, he saw that the man had gone. "Kuso…" he muttered under his breath, then turned and walked back to where the Sensei and other students, some from other grade levels, coming out and crowding around Kumoko and the man. He rushed forward, and checked the man's pulse. He couldn't feel anything. The man was dead. He gritted his teeth for a moment, and then walked over to check on Kumoko. Haibara told him that the ambulance was almost here, that the Sensei had called them and the police 5 minutes ago. Conan nodded, still in a state of horror and anger at what the criminal had done. He looked down at Kumoko. Blood was gushing out of her wrist, and even though she had fallen unconscious, her face still showed that she was in great pain._

_"Can anyone tell me exactly what happened just now?" asked Megure Keibu, stepping out of the police car with Takagi Keiji not far behind. Conan listened as Sensei told the police about hearing a gun shot in the middle of class and the 6 children running outside. Megure stared at the indicated (5 now that Kumoko is on the ambulance) children and his face became _really_ scary as he started to yell at the kids. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, HOW COULD YOU HAVE JUST RAN OUTSIDE, YOU DO KNOW THE MURDERER HAS GOT A GUN??" "Yeah, I know, Megure Keibu, we're really sorry, I didn't know we were going to split up," said Conan. "WELL, WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU SPLIT UP THEN??" Megure Keibu kept on shouting, while Takagi Keiji was trying to calm him down. "Because…" Conan looked at Mitsuhiko, and saw that he had a look of horror on his face. "I didn't think we'd get hurt. I didn't know that I was putting everyone in danger…I'm sorry…" he said, looking to the ground. "Indeed, that was an extremely dangerous thing to do," Megure Keibu said, calming down slightly, then looking slightly annoyed again as he said, "And you five have gotten into more trouble than all the other normal kids I've ever seen…And this time, you dragged another kid along? Who was that?" "That's a new student in my class, Shirai Chihiro. She lives with Haibara in Dr. Agasa's house," the Sensei said, walking over. _

_"Um…kids, do you want to go to the hospital?" Megure Keibu asked, turning his attention onto the kids again, "Since your friend is going right now…" he added, glancing at the ambulance which was already racing down the road. The kids nodded, and got onto the police car. "Hang on…Can I go get Ran-neechan? She'll take care of us better, and she's right across the street from us," Conan said. "Okay, just tell her teacher that one of your friends has been injured in a gun accident, I'm sure the teacher will let her out."_

**(Midnight, in the hospital)**

_I don't recall anything of importance happening during that time, except that I now know, roughly, what the man looks like. He's pretty tall, around 180 centimeters, has black hair and black eyes, _Conan pondered over the criminal. It was around twelve o'clock already, and he, Haibara and Ran were staying to look after Kumoko. Haibara was asleep next to Kumoko; that was upon the younger girl's request (the hospital bed _is_ large enough for both of them) Conan was lying on the "visitor's" bed, which was actually quite comfortable. Ran was sleeping in a chair between the two beds.

_But how can I start my investigation, who should I ask? _Conan thought as he turned in his bed, _perhaps I'll go ask the people living near Waseda-san's _(the murdered woman) _house, they might have seen something that I didn't…His thoughts drifted away as he slowly fell asleep…_

**(Next morning, near Waseda-san's house)**

"Thank you, obaasan!" Conan waved to the old woman whom he had just finished talking with, who smiled at him and waved back. As soon as her door closed, Conan set off again, with a determined expression. The lady that he had been talking to had provided an immense amount of information. She, in fact, held an item of proof that the criminal had dropped, and that the lady had seen and picked up. Conan was glad that she had had enough sense to wrap it with a handkerchief, so her own fingerprints don't get on it. He gazed down upon the object now—a small piece of reflective plastic that seemed to have come from a circle. It was most likely part of a CD or DVD, and, most importantly, he could see a small piece of writing on it. Something that looked like a backwards K was written, in black ink pen, in the middle of the disk, where it was broken. Conan thought that it was a part of either a katakana or a kanji, since the strokes looked too rigid to be hiragana. What could a backwards K be part of? The katakana "o", "ho"…it was endless, especially if he began to think about the kanji. He should just take this piece of evidence to Megure Keibu, and have the other policemen check it out. They will supply more information for him to continue his investigation. He was so absorbed in thinking that he did not realize a shadowy figure sneaking up on him…

**(Meanwhile, at the hospital)**

"Good morning, Chihiro-chan!" Ayumi sang cheerfully as she stepped into the hospital room. It was nine o'clock already, and Ran and Haibara were both out of their beds. Haibara was sitting on the visitor's bed reading a book, and Ran was not in the room; she had gone to get the three of them some breakfast. "Hello," Chihiro replied, smiling at Ayumi. Chihiro, like Haibara, was reading, but she had stuffed the book away quickly when the kids came in. The book's title was _The Cycle of Death_, and even the cover picture was too frightening for a six-year-old. "How's your arm, Chihiro-chan?" Mitsuhiko asked. He had been afraid to come, afraid that Chihiro might blame him for her arm. Chihiro saw the worry in his eyes clearly, and she smiled warmly, "It's getting better and better; the doctor says that I'll regain full control of it about a couple of days from now, but there is feeling in it already," she said. Mitsuhiko looked relieved and delighted.

"I brought some games to play!" Ayumi announced, and took, out of her bag, several small game pieces and a game board. Haibara smirked as she recognized something like Kamen Yaiba on the game board. Before Ayumi can explain the rules, however, hers, Mitsuhiko's, Genta's and Haibara's Detective Boys' badges all began to beep. "Maybe it's Conan-kun…" Mitsuhiko said, pressing the receive button on his badge. A weak voice sounded, startling all of them, "Help…"

**What has happened to Conan? Who's captured him? Will the Detective Boys be able to save him? To be continued…**

Note: Finally, Chapter 4! Sorry it took so long…Anyways, hope you all like the turn of events in the fourth chapter! Also, the book _The Cycle of Death _doesn't really exist, but it will play an important role later in the story. Thanks to all the people who see this note, because this means you've read my story up to the 4th chapter! Thanks guys! Please review also, I am almost running out of ideas…Please give me some more support!!


	5. Chapter 5

**A Third Secret Chapter 5**

**By Pochama-chan**

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho Sensei. I'm only writing this fan-fic based upon the story line that he created.

**(In the hospital)**

"Conan-kun? What…what happened?" Ayumi asked worriedly, but there was no reply from Conan. At this moment, Ran walked in the door. "Hello, kids…What happened?" she looked concerned at the kids' scared faces. "Ran-oneesan, Conan-kun…" "What happened?" Ran asked again, alarmed. "We think he's in trouble, his voice sounded weak, and he only said 'help' and then there was no more reply…What if a bad guy got him?" Ayumi said, her big eyes filling slightly with tears. "Haibara-san…doesn't Dr. Agasa have a tracking device to track our badges?" Mitsuhiko asked. "Yes, but the doctor's house is locked now, we can't get in," replied Haibara. "Really? Then where are you and Chihiro living now?" Genta asked. "In Edogawa-kun's home. We've been there for a couple of days now," Haibara replied. "Well, we're going to the doctor's house," Ran said determinedly. "I said, the door is-" Haibara began. "It doesn't matter that the door is locked. I'll kick the door down if I need to," Ran said, eyes blazing. "Okay," Ayumi said, "Let's go!" "Wait! Someone has to stay with Chihiro-chan; we can't just leave her here!" Mitsuhiko said. "It's okay; I was planning to take her and Ai-chan out for a walk, so I asked the doctor as I met him in the hall. He said that she can leave the hospital for a short amount of time, as long as we protect her and not let her get into more harm," Ran said. "Alright, now we can all go!" Ayumi cheered.

**(15 minutes later, wherever Conan is…)**

"Unghh…Where am I?" Conan muttered, waking up on the floor of a dark room. There were no windows, and the heavy iron door was sure to be locked, so he didn't even bother to try. He saw a cell phone lying beside him, and picked it up. There was only one number in the log, so he dialed that number. The other line was picked up 10 seconds later. "_So…You woke up…_" The voice said. It was rough and sounded…evil. Just hearing the sound sent shivers up Conan's spine. "Who are you? What do you want?" Conan yelled. "_Who am I? Well, to tell the truth, I am the murderer of Hajime Otaki and Waseda Imako,_" the intimidating voice replied. "What?! You're the murderer?" Conan practically screamed into the receiver, "What do you want with me?" "_Oh, I don't want to do anything to you. It's just that I didn't want to leave you lying around after you were unconscious. It's cold outside; I wouldn't want you to get sick…_" Conan could tell that the man was smirking by the sound of his voice. "Let me out of here!" Conan yelled. "_Why, certainly. The door's unlocked; you can step right out,_" the man said. Conan rushed to the door and found, to his surprise, that it opened easily. He was about to leave when he remembered something. "That piece of evidence…what did you do to it?" he asked. "_I've already told you that I'm the murderer, do you think I'll still let you keep the evidence?_" the voice jeered, "_I'm definitely not that stupid…Goodbye, Young Detective. I hope we never meet again…_" The phone clicked, and the other line hung up.

"Kuso…How am I supposed to convince Megure Keibu that there was a piece of evidence in the first place?" Conan spoke to himself as he walked through the corridor leading outside, "Well, I guess I'll have to go and show this phone to Megure Keibu first. Maybe he'll know what to do with it." He opened the heavy iron doors at the end of the corridor, stepped out, and was surprised to see…

**(Meanwhile, at Dr. Agasa's house)**

"Ran-oneesan, is this really alright? I feel like we're thieves…" mumbled Genta as they crept up towards Agasa's house. "There isn't any other way, Genta-kun!" Ayumi said reproachfully. "Yeah, don't you want to make sure Conan-kun's alright?" Mitsuhiko asked. "I…well…okay…" Genta muttered as they began to inch towards the house again. Soon, they reached the gate. "It's locked," Haibara said, "I reminded the professor when we left." "Can't one of us just climb the fence inside and let everyone in?" Ayumi asked. "Okay, I'll do it!" Mitsuhiko volunteered. He climbed over in a matter of seconds and unlatched the gate. "Cool! Alright, let's go in!" Genta cheered. They reached the door, and found, to their surprise, that it was unlocked. "Strange…" Kumoko whispered to Haibara as they walked in, "I remember clearly that you reminded the professor lots of times to lock the door, Shiho-neechan." "Yeah, it is weird…" Haibara pondered the situation. The living room didn't seem to be searched through or moved in any way. "Ai-chan, where is the professor's lab?" Ran asked her. Haibara didn't say anything, but walked towards the professor's office on the first floor. The door was unlocked, and they all stepped in.

"Wow, that's really…messy…" was Mitsuhiko's remark as the kids walked in. They'd been to the lab a couple of times before, but it's never been so messed up. Haibara and Kumoko exchanged worried looks. They were all in the lab a couple of days ago, and it hadn't been _that _messy. "What do you think, Neechan? Is it a thief?" Kumoko whispered. "Maybe…" Haibara replied. "But didn't the professor take his passport and wallet and stuff all to his business trip?" Ayumi asked, overhearing the conversation. "Yes, so we don't know what the thief, if there really was one, was looking for," Haibara said, "First thing is to find Dr. Agasa's tracking device, since not even Chihiro-chan and I know what everything in here is." "What does the tracking device look like?" Mitsuhiko asked. "I've seen it before!" Ayumi exclaimed, "It's a black box-shaped thing with an antenna up front. It's about this big," she spread her hands about as wide as a normal-sized book, "And it's got this line of red and green lights flashing along it. Oh! And it's also got a screen." "Okay, so we're trying to find something that flashes red and green," Genta said, and Ayumi nodded, "That shouldn't be too hard!"

**(Meanwhile, where Conan is)**

_Wow, _Conan thought as he looked across the street, _I was directly across the street from the police station. This criminal sure has some nerve. _He saw that he had come out of an empty building. He remembered on the news that it was an old department store, and that it was going to be torn down in a couple of weeks. Still wondering about the strangeness of the criminal, he walked across the street towards the tall, familiar-looking police station.

**(In Dr. Agasa's house)**

"Ah! I've found it!" Ayumi exclaimed, holding up the machine. The others crowded around her as she turned it on. The screen flashed, then lit up. It showed several small dots on the screen, all labeled with miniature black letters. "He's over there! He's…in the police station??" Genta pointed to the two small black dots adjacent to each other on the screen. One read "Megane". The other was "Tantei Badge Conan". "Why is he in the police station?" Ayumi asked the others, "Could a mean policeman have caught him and that's why he was asking for help?" she mused. "Anyway, let's contact him first," suggested Kumoko, and the others agreed.

**(Meanwhile, in the police station…)**

"Hello, Takagi Keiji!" the child's voice of Edogawa Conan rang through the room, and Takagi looked up. "What's up, Conan-kun?" he greeted the kid, and motioned for him to sit down. "Takagi Keiji, a bad guy's caught me!!" Conan mimicked a panic-stricken, scared-little-kid's voice, "I think he's the murderer who killed Hajime Otaki-san and Waseda Imako-san!" "What!? Are you sure, Conan-kun?" Takagi asked. "He told me so himself, look," he held up the cell phone, "He put this next to me, and when I woke up and called him using this phone, he said he was the murderer!" Conan said. Takagi was now examining the cell phone, looking thoughtful. "You know what, Conan-kun; we might be able to track the criminal through this phone number!" He walked out and found Satou Keiji, and held out the cell phone to her, "Satou-san, Conan-kun says that he was captured by the murderer of Hajime-san and Waseda-san, and that the criminal was contacting him through this phone! Do you think we might be able to track the other phone through this?" "Is this true, Conan-kun?" Satou took the phone and examined it just like Takagi. Conan nodded. "Okay, I'll get some of the other people to search for the phone. The criminal will probably have thrown it away by now, though. Even if he was only talking to a kid, he'd be stupid to keep the evidence that might lead him to trouble." She walked off with the phone.

Conan's detective badge beeped. He picked it up, and was greeted by the voice of his fellow classmates, the Detective Boys. "Where were you, Conan-kun? We were so worried!" Ayumi's voice wailed though the receiver. "Were you caught by the criminal?" Mitsuhiko inquired. "What- Where are you?" Conan asked them. "We're in Dr. Agasa's house! Conan, there's been a theft!" Ayumi said. "What!? A theft? Where?" Conan asked. "In Dr. Agasa's house," Ran answered, "At least, we think it's a theft. We don't know whether anything has actually been stolen, however." "Why don't you call Dr. Agasa? He should know all the important things in his own lab," Conan suggested. "Okay. But Conan-kun, why are you in the police station now? The last thing we heard from you is your call for help, and then you never answered us," Ayumi said. "Oh, that. Well, I was caught by the criminal, and he took away the evidence I'd found, and-" But before he could finish, Ran's angry voice erupted through the receiver. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, RUNNING OFF IN THE CRACK OF DAWN TO GO FIND _EVIDENCE_? Do you know how dangerous that is?" she yelled.

"Sorry, Ran-neechan, I just wanted to go to Waseda-san's house to explore, but then I met a nice obaasan, and she told me what she saw that day," Conan immediately explained, "And then she told me to bring the evidence to the police, because her knee was bad and she couldn't walk. And then when I was walking towards the police station, someone snuck up behind me and attacked. When I woke up again, I was in the deserted department store across the street from the police department." "Wow, the criminal carried you all the way to across the street from the police station? And he didn't get caught?" Genta asked. "Well, then the criminal must be a kind of person who wouldn't look weird carrying a kid into a deserted building. Is there a kind of person like that?" Ayumi wondered. "Hmm…" Conan thought, but at that time, Satou Keiji came running towards him and Takagi, accompanied by some other policemen, to where they were standing in the police office. "Conan-kun, the…the criminal wants to talk to you," she said, holding out the phone. Conan accepted it, then slowly set it down on the table and pressed the speaker phone button.

A hoarse and rough voice sounded through the phone, "_Hello, Tantei-san…"_

**The criminal called Conan again?! What does he want? How will Conan find him? To be continued…**

Note: Hi! This chapter is a bit long, so it took a longer time. Sorry! Hope everyone likes how the story is going, I'll try to include more surprises, and the criminal himself will soon surface too! Please read and review, thanks! I also need some suggestion on the story; it's hard to make a story when there's no one else to ask for ideas. Thanks to **Hayami Miharu **for adding me to her (Sorry if you're a male; your name sounds more like a girl) Story Alert, and also thanks to everyone who read my story, your support keeps me going! Hope I can make the next chapter quickly!


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